Blog

What IS my style? I couldn’t even begin to count the number of moments I’ve wasted thinking about this question. For the hundreds (no, thousands) of us creative individuals who feel we cannot continue creating anything without knowing what IT is, let me reassure you. You can.

It’s a disconcerting thing, style. In the process of looking for it, you begin to assume it’s something you have to find. What if you believed that your style is inherently apart of who you are right now? Not something to be searched for or acquired. Well, it would lend itself to relief.

I began my photography journey not long ago. In fact, it’s only been a little over a year that I began to invest more time in my creative pursuits. It started with endless photos of my newborn baby, then evolved into whimsical portraits. Both those phases were still solely iPhone. The entire time I would endlessly scroll through the feeds of photographers and instagrammers I admired, trying to figure out how my photos could be like theirs.

Eventually, I realized that the quality I wanted in my photos wasn’t achievable with my iPhone so I invested in a “real” camera. Even then, I constantly felt as though my style wasn’t clear. I had set aside the whimsical portraits to shoot daily lifestyle photography of me and my family, but I still felt unsettled about my creative direction. During the back half of last year, it frustrated me so much that there were several months of posting less frequently and stepping away from doing anything on the blog. My perceived lack of style was hindering my ability to want to create at all.

Oddly enough, I eventually began to tire of my constant frustration. I was tired of feeling like my creative ideas weren’t “good enough”, however insecure that may sound. I finally had a one-on-one with myself and decided that if I were ever going to move forward, I had to stop comparing and criticizing myself and actually do the work. I had stop pouring my energy into idealizing what I wanted my work to look like and start figuring out the tangible steps to get there. Fast forward a few months and I can say it’s made all the difference. I’m finally creating work I’m proud of (like these photos here!), and I’m focused on growth versus style. With that in mind, I have learned a few lessons on how to hone style, and I’d like to share them with you.

Lessons on Style:

• Style becomes more defined as you learn skills. Stop looking for your style and trying to create it. Focus on the skillset you are trying to achieve, and the style will follow.
• Your style is already inherent in who you are. We all have personalities. We didn’t try to find our personalities. They just are. Your style is the same. It will follow you into what you create just as your personality does in any kind of situation.
• Even knowing that style is inherent doesn’t always help the feelings of comparison. When you find yourself discontent with your work or gazing a little too long at the work of others, I want you to stop scrolling and get back to creating. It’s necessary to tune out other influences when it hinders our own work.
• Dissect what inspires you. Channel your frustration into understanding how you can recreate elements from work you admire. Focus on one element at a time. I’m passionate about styling, but I have a lot to learn in order for my photos to have the qualities I admire in others. It’s why I keep my elements simple and gradually add layers in as I understand what their purpose is in my photo.
• I’m going to say it again. You have to do the work. I work full-time so daily photography is difficult when the days are short, but I’ve committed to styling and photographing one photoshoot each weekend to hone my skills. I’ve been doing it now for over two months, and I can notice marked improvement. Just by doing it. Regardless of what it is you create, carve out dedicated time to work on it.

I hope my thoughts here encourage you that whatever it is you’re creating now will continue to help you develop your style. Focus what brings you joy – what leaves you satisfied when you create. The style will follow. Just remember that it also takes time and patience. As cliche as it sounds, it really is about enjoying the process so let’s try to, shall we?